


Entering A World Of Chaos

by KittyKatGeorgie



Category: Captain Underpants Series - Dav Pilkey, The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bisexual Female Character, Bisexual Male Character, F/M, Gay Male Character, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Pregnancy, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-11-05
Packaged: 2020-10-28 22:58:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 17,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20786444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittyKatGeorgie/pseuds/KittyKatGeorgie
Summary: AU mix- Acronym & Big FamilyErica led Melvin back to his dorm, carrying both their bags. "Seriously Mel you need to get some rest if you're sick." Melvin bit his lip, glancing away from the taller girl. "I'm gonna get you home, and you're gonna get right back into bed. My dad taught me this killer soup recipe, I can make you some-""Erica." Melvin stepped in front of her, stopping her in the middle of the sidewalk. He looked up, fear evident in his eyes. "My period's late."





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Glaiket](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Glaiket).

> This fic is a mix of two AUs- the Acronym AU and an AU I made with my girlfriend called the Big Family AU, where George and Melvin end up having 8 kids. It's rated for teens, but here are some general warnings:
> 
> *Swearing  
*Pregnancy  
*Talk of dysphoria  
*Sexual humor and references  
*Anxiety/panic attacks

Melvin sighed, trudging down the aisle of the lecture hall towards his usual seat in the front. He passed other students who were taking the time before class to study, catch up with friends, or get a few more minutes of sleep.

Usually, Melvin thought those who slept this time away could have been doing something productive, or were wasting their time, but for once Melvin kinda… got it.

He dropped into his seat, slouching forward to set his forehead on the desktop and fold his arms over his churning stomach. He had felt sick since he woke up, but he didn't have a fever, and like hell he was going to let something as trivial as a stomach virus keep him from class. They were only just back from winter break! Besides, Melvin Sneedly did  _ not  _ get anything less than perfect attendance.

"Hey man, you good?"

"'M fine," Melvin mumbled. Erica sat forward in her seat, raising an eyebrow at him. "I'm just a little sick."

"Maybe you shouldn't have come to class." Erica ever so slightly scooted her chair the other way.

"I'm  _ fine. _ " Melvin rolled his eyes, sitting up and pulling out his supplies. "I'm not going to let something as silly as an  _ upset tummy _ keep me in bed all day. I have class, and a job, and I'm responsible."

"Taking a day off for your health doesn't make you irresponsible, Mel."

"That's beside the point." Melvin swallowed as a certain feeling rose up through his throat. "Thank you for your concern, Erica, but I'll be fine."

"Alright…" Erica sat back, watching Melvin with concern. The chatter in the lecture hall settled as the professor announced that it was time to begin. Melvin sat up, fingers hovering over the keyboard of his laptop to take notes. It was just a normal day.

That's what Melvin tried to tell himself anyway, but as the class progressed it was getting harder and harder to ignore the twisting in his gut. He could almost feel himself turning green, and only 15 minutes into the lecture, he bolted to the front of the hall and finally vomited into the trash can.

The professor's speech faltered, and murmuring broke out among the students. Melvin felt their eyes on the back of his head, but he was too focused on emptying whatever was in his stomach that he had managed to eat that morning.

"I knew it!" Erica came running down after him, rubbing his back and holding him up by one arm. "Professor Rosseforp, we need to be excused."

"I'm not-!" Melvin vomited again, interrupting his own protest. "Ok… fine…"

"Uh- y-yes, of course." The professor nodded, eyes widened in shock as she looked at Melvin. Erica pulled him up and guided him up to their seats to grab their things and then out the doors. "Feel better soon!"

Erica led Melvin back to his dorm, carrying both their bags. "Seriously Mel you need to get some rest if you're sick." Melvin bit his lip, glancing away from the taller girl. "I'm gonna get you home, and you're gonna get right back into bed. My dad taught me this killer soup recipe, I can make you some-"

"Erica." Melvin stepped in front of her, stopping her in the middle of the sidewalk. He looked up, fear evident in his eyes. "My period's late." 

Erica's mouth fell open in a small o. "Oh.  _ Oh.  _ Uh- do you think you're-?"

"I don't know!" Melvin whispered, almost in a panic. "I-I thought it was just stress but now I'm throwing up and my chest  _ has  _ been sore lately…"

"Ok, ok." Erica set her hands on Melvin's shoulders. "Don't start panicking. Do you have a pregnancy test at home?" Melvin shook his head nervously. "Ok, let's go buy some, alright? Before you get worried."

"Will you buy them? I-I always get scared people will know if I… buy stuff like that."

"Yeah, of course." Erica nodded and gently pulled Melvin along.

* * *

Melvin stood in the line at the store next to Erica, head nearly buried inside his hood as he looked around. Erica stood nonchalant, stepping up to the cash register and setting the box of pregnancy tests on the counter. The cashier smiled as she rung it up.

"Anything else for you today?" 

"No thanks." Erica took the bag and stuffed the receipt inside.

"Good luck!" The cashier whispered, smiling at the two of them. "You two are  _ so  _ cute."

"Uh… thanks."

Melvin blinked in shock, and they managed to get outside before bursting into laughter.

"She thought we were a couple!" Erica cackled.

"I know!"

" _ Me,  _ straight. I couldn't even imagine-"

"Hey, she thought I was cis! Don't take that away from me, Erica," Melvin teased. Erica chuckled.

“Alright, alright. I get it.” She smiled a bit. “C’mon, let’s go.”

Melvin’s smile faltered. “Yeah. Right."

* * *

Melvin paced back and forth, anxiously biting on a beaker-shaped chewy in a frivolous effort to calm himself down. His eyes jumped to the stick on the table for the fourth time in less than a minute, then to Erica, who was sitting in front of it.

“Melvin, relax,” she said, trying to catch him by his arm. Instinctively, Melvin jerked away from her hand, rubbing the spot she had touched. Erica held up her hands. “Sorry. But you don’t even know it’ll be positive. People experience pregnancy scares all the time.”

“Have you?” Melvin asked, pausing to look at her. Erica pursed her lips.

“Well, I’m a lesbian. So, no, not really.”

Melvin sighed and rubbed at his face. “Right. Sorry. I-I’m freaking out, Erica. Th-there’s so much I wanted to do before having a kid- and through  _ adoption _ , or  _ surrogacy _ ;  _ I  _ definitely didn’t want to be pregnant!”

“Hey, hey.” Erica stood up and held his hands still. “Whatever happens, you’ll be ok. You can still do what you wanted to do, and you’re still a man, no matter what. Ok?”

Melvin nodded, then squeaked and jumped as the alarm on his phone went off. Erica set a hand on his arm, and he smiled sheepishly at her before swallowing nervously and looking at the stick on the table. He picked it up, covering the little screen with his thumb as he did so.

“...will you hold my hand?”

Erica squeezed his hand, and, shakily, Melvin moved his thumb to look at the answer.


	2. Chapter 2

Melvin’s heart plummeted. He heard Erica inhale beside him. He set the test down, shaking, and ended up collapsing back onto his bed.

“Melvin?” Erica sat on the edge of the bed, cautiously reaching to touch his arm. He didn’t move, except to open and close his mouth as he stared at the ceiling.

“This  _ can’t  _ be happening.”

“It is, Mel.”

“This wasn’t the plan. I was supposed to get my PhDs first. Maybe patent a couple of inventions.  _ If  _ it even happened at all! Which ok, it probably  _ would  _ have, George and Harold always said they wanted to be dads, but it was supposed to be  _ adoption _ -”

“Are you gonna tell George?” Erica interrupted. Melvin’s eyes widened and he gasped as he sat up.

“Shit! I didn’t even think of-” He groaned, dragging his hands under his glasses. “Ugh, I  _ do  _ have to tell him. And I guess it’s up to him if he tells the other three, right?”

“I guess. Would they… be involved, too?”

“I don’t know.” Melvin wrapped his arms around his knees. “Relationships, in general, are still… an enigma. I don’t mind if George wants to date Harold and Lisa too, but just dating  _ one  _ person is confusing for me. So… that’s for them to figure out.” Melvin set his face. “ _ My  _ job is to just tell him.”

Erica nodded and pulled him against her side. “I think that’s right. ...are you gonna call him now?”

Melvin checked the time on his phone. “He’s not in a class right now. M-might as well. Will you stay here with me?”

“Yeah, of course, man.” 

Erica moved to sit across from Melvin. He slowly breathed out, opening the phone app and finding George’s number. His thumb hovered over the call button. After Erica squeezed his hand reassuringly, he pressed it.

_ Ringing. Ringing. Ringing. _

_ Click. _

_ “...Heyyyyy sweet prince!” _

Melvin felt his cheeks heat up. “H-hey, dearest…”

_ “What’s up?” _

“Um- wh-where is everyone? Harold, Billy and Lisa?”

_ “Lisa’s in a class and Billy and Harold’re being gay. Why? Are you ok?” _

Melvin hesitated. “...yeah.” He swallowed, twisting his bowtie in his fingers. “Yeah. Uh, I-I just need to tell you something, a-and I wanted you to be able to decide if… you wanna tell them.”

_ “Oook? What is it?” _

“...I’m pregnant.”

Silence. And then, in a very small voice-

_ “...are you positive?” _

“George I am going to murder you.”

Erica snickered silently into her hand.

_ “I’m sorry! I make puns when I’m nervous!”  _ Melvin could hear George move around wherever he was sitting.  _ “But… you’re really pregnant?” _

“Yes. I am. And I’m leaving it up to you to include the other three or not. I don’t care, either way, I just… you needed to know.”

_ “Yeah.” George sighed. “I’ll tell them. They  _ would  _ be involved, I think. If they want to.” He breathed out. “A plane ticket so soon is gonna be fuckin’ expensive.” _

“What?” Melvin sat up, suddenly alert. “No. No! You’re not dropping out of college just because I’m-”

_ “Yeah I am! Melvin, it’s my kid, and I’m not gonna make you handle this all by yourself.” _

“I can handle myself.  _ You  _ are finishing college! I’m not putting your education in jeopardy because of this. You’re staying there, no arguing!”

_ “...alright.” _

“Al- really?” Melvin blinked, mouth falling open in shock. “That’s it? That was… easy.”

_ “You’re stubborn; I was never gonna win.” _

“...ok. Uh- thank you, George. For listening to me.”

_ “Mm-hm. I’m… gonna tell Harold and Billy and Lisa. Talk to you later, ok? I love you.” _

“I love you too,” Melvin repeated quietly before hanging up. He stared at the phone in his hand, frowning slightly.

“...Do you really think you can handle it by yourself?” Erica asked.

“...no. But I didn’t want him to… he actually gave up that easily?” Melvin’s voice wavered. “He always argues back. He barely even  _ tried. _ ”

“I’m sure he has a reason,” Erica assured. “Maybe he didn’t wanna upset you.”

“Yeah, maybe…” Melvin mumbled. His anxiety slowly started filling his mind, though, with other reasons he could have possibly given up so quickly, and none of them were good.

“I can help, you know.”

Melvin jumped, pulled suddenly from the spiral he was going down. “Huh?”

“With the baby,” Erica said. “If you need help, I’m here for you.”

“Oh… Erica, I-I can’t.” Melvin shook his head. “I don’t want to interfere with your education.”

“I’m your best friend Mel; I won’t make you do this without any help.” She smiled playfully. “We’re a team. Through and through.”

Melvin smiled back softly. “Yeah… yeah, you’re right.” He paused in thought. “Oh man, I won’t be able to fight. The Acronym is going to be missing its T.”

Erica laughed. “Aw, we’ll be alright. You don’t have to worry.”

“No, but it is kind of fun.” Melvin shrugged. ““Kicking ass”, as George and Harold put it.”

“Haha! Yeah, I guess you’re right. Don’t worry, you’ll be back out there before you know it.”

“I’m sure.” Melvin snorted and rolled his eyes. He then sighed. “Why don’t you go back to class? I can handle myself now.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure. I’m just going to take a nap, I think. No reason for you to be missing classes.”

“Alright man.” Erica patted his back before standing up. “Text me if you need anything.”

“You got it.” Melvin smiled and laid back on his bed as Erica gathered her stuff.

“See ya later,” she said, halfway out the door. “Love you.”

“Love you too.” Melvin rolled over, facing the wall and closing his eyes.

...a minute later, he opened them back up. He  _ was  _ tired. It had been an exhausting morning. He never felt an emotion that strongly that wasn’t pure rage. But he couldn’t actually… fall asleep. He frowned, rolling over to look at the ceiling. His hands folded over his stomach.

...he had fully expected to get into an argument with George just then. They were both stubborn as all hell, it wasn’t unusual for them to argue. But he had just… given up.  _ That  _ was  _ unheard of.  _ So why had he given in so easily? ...did he not care?

Melvin tried to ignore the thought- of  _ course  _ George cared- but it was difficult. His anxiety was building. What if he really didn’t care? He groaned, burying his face in his pillow. Shut up, brain, shut up!

He sat up, crawling out of bed and pulling out his textbooks. He set them on the table and sat in front of them, grabbing a pencil and notebook. Well, if he wasn’t napping, he was going to work. No reason to let this mishap get in the way of his perfect GPA.


	3. Chapter 3

Melvin woke up the next morning feeling sick, just like the day before. He moaned, tugging his blanket up over his face. Did he really have to wake up like this every morning now? Forget the crippling dysphoria and anxiety,  _ this  _ might be the worst part of the whole thing. At least it was Saturday so he didn’t have to get up-

_ Knock knock knock! _

He sighed heavily. Of course. Of course! Who would be knocking this early? Erica was at work. Melvin pulled himself out of bed, quickly getting dressed. If it was another student handing out party invitations-

_ Knock knock knock! _

“Yeah yeah, I heard ya!” Melvin snapped, tugging his binder over his head. “Just give me a minute, sheesh!”

After pulling on a t-shirt George left and a pair of pajama pants, he went to open the door. “I swear, if it’s another party, I’m not interested-!”

He froze, blinking. George stood on the other side, smiling sheepishly. He had a backpack on and a rolling bag behind him, which looked haphazardly packed, judging by the shirt sleeve sticking out of the top.

“...hi?”

“What the  _ HELL  _ are you doing here?!” Melvin yelled. George flinched, rubbing at his ear.

“Hey, keep it down, I’m like, jet-lagged or something.”

“That’s for flights that are  _ long _ , not  _ two-and-a-half hours. _ ” Melvin grabbed George by his tie and yanked him into the dorm room, slamming the door behind him. George grinned sheepishly. Melvin growled, tugging harder on his tie. “You’re supposed to be staying in college! You said you were!”

“You were never gonna go with it!” George argued. Despite his outward appearance, Melvin felt a sense of relief wash over him. George  _ was  _ being stubborn. “I said ok so I could get a flight here without you arguing with me for half an hour.”

“Damn right I wouldn’t have gone with it! The hell were you thinking, dropping out of college?!”

“Can you let go of my tie?” George asked. "You're choking me. It’s kinda hot, but I would like to breathe.”

Melvin glared, letting go and folding his arms. George adjusted his tie back to normal and looked up at Melvin, who raised an eyebrow expectantly. George glared back a bit.

“You wanna know what the hell I was thinking? I was thinking “This is my kid too, and if I wanna drop out to  _ raise them _ , I have the right to do that, whether he wants me to or not.” I’m an adult, Melvin. I can make the decision to come here to take care of my own damn kid and boyfriend.” George’s face softened. “I don’t  _ want  _ to miss out of the pregnancy and their first year of  _ living  _ just to finish college. Family first. It’s not just about you; this is  _ my  _ decision.”

Melvin frowned, looking down at the floor. He kicked his foot and kept his arms crossed.

“...you’re right.” He sighed. “You’re right. What you do is not my decision. I just wish you had thought about it first.”

“I did. I thought “Would I rather finish school or be there for my boyfriend and son/daughter?” I’d rather be here.”

“Well, I supposed that does work out. I want to finish school, and my PhDs. And to be honest, I was panicking at the idea of having to do that  _ and  _ work  _ and  _ take care of a baby all by myself.”

George laughed and smiled, stepping forward to hold Melvin’s face and kiss him deeply. Melvin sighed, wrapping his arms around the taller boy’s shoulders.

“I missed you,” George murmured.

“Yeah, I missed you, too…” Melvin pulled back to sit on his bed, and patted the spot next to him for George to sit. “What about Harold and Billy and Lisa? What are they doing?”

“Harold’s excited to be a dad. The three of them are gonna finish the year there and then transfer to a college near here. We were thinking we could all rent an apartment together? Five part-time paychecks, we could afford it.”

“Yeah.” Melvin nodded. “We could. That sounds like a good plan.”

“Do you, uh… have a due date yet? Or something?”

“No, but I estimate sometime mid-September, if it was conceived winter break.”

“Oh yeah.” George laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck and glancing away. “Oof. Helluva Christmas/birthday present, huh?”

Melvin folded his arms, face turning red. He faked annoyance. “I wasn’t expecting it to have a follow-up.”

“Neither was I!” George snorted, knocking Melvin’s shoulder with his own. Melvin rolled his eyes, sighed, laid back on his bed, and closed his eyes. It was still rather early, and although the shock of George being there had distracted him, he was still tired and sick.

After a minute, he felt George’s hand on his stomach. “Hey, little guy. I’m your dad. The other two are gonna be here in a couple months. And your mom.”

“A fetus can’t hear until 18 weeks,” Melvin spoke up, not opening his eyes.

“Aw, let me talk to ‘em, Mel.”

“Alright. But I’m telling you, it’s not hearing anything.”

George rolled his eyes and laid back next to Melvin. “Sometimes I hate that you’re so smart.”

Melvin snorted softly. George yawned, stretching his arms above him. “Tired?”

“I’ve been up since 4 am, my entire body is  _ screaming. _ ”

“Yeah, and you woke me up. I’m tired too.”

They both stayed quiet for a moment before George sat up and started pulling Melvin towards the head of the bed. Melvin opened his eyes, raising an eyebrow at him.

“What are you doing?”

“Laying so our feet aren’t hanging off the side of the bed. Come on, help me out.”

The two of them laid down normally, and George tugged the blanket over them. Melvin sighed, burying himself in George’s arms as he drifted off…

“Wait!” He sat up quickly.

“Aw, whaaat?” George whined. Melvin pulled off his shirt and struggled to tug his binder off over his head. “Oh.”

“Yeah.” He folded the binder neatly and set it on the bedside table before laying back down. George laughed, wrapping an arm around him.

“You’ve gotta be the only person in the world who folds their dirty clothes before going to bed.”

“No need to make a mess to deal with when I wake up. Now shut up.”

George smiled softly, gently kissing the top of Melvin’s head before closing his eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

Melvin woke up a few hours later to the smell of bacon and eggs. He sat up, rubbing at his eyes before putting on his glasses. George was in the kitchen area of the dorm room, humming as he cooked.

“Hey!” George smiled. “Feeling up for brunch?”

“Brunch? Really?” Melvin asked, pulling the blanket over his chest. 

George shrugged. “We’re gay. We’re allowed.” Melvin rolled his eyes playfully. “Actually, I don’t think we’ve ever gone to a real brunch. We should do that.”

“Sure. But, I can’t eat-”

“I know, I know, bacon, normally. But I was looking it up and apparently, Dealer Jim’s bacon doesn’t have MSG!”

“...you looked it up?” Melvin asked quietly.

“Mm-hm! So I ran out and got some while you were asleep.” George poked at the bacon in the pan. “It  _ is  _ chewy though, only because that’s how I like my bacon.” Melvin smiled softly, gazing at George. “Get dressed, it’s almost done.”

Melvin sighed and stretched before getting out of bed and pulling on a bra and t-shirt. George glanced at him, quirking an eyebrow and grinning.

“Is that my shirt?” He asked, pointing with the spatula. Melvin blushed, tugging at the shirt.

“You left it here a few visits ago…” Melvin folded his arms in fake irritation. “I just… kept forgetting to give it back.”

“You never forget anything.” George smirked. “It’s alright, you can keep it. It’s cuter on you.”

“Oh, shut up.” Melvin glared at George as his face burned redder. He sat down, folding his arms on top of the table. “I only kept it because I  _ forgot  _ to give it back. That’s it.”

“Uh-huh, sure. Here, eat up.” George set a plate of bacon and eggs in front of Melvin, then sat down with his own. Melvin poked at the bacon on his plate, eyeing it apprehensively. “Somethin’ wrong?”

“Not necessarily. I’ve… never had bacon before. And usually, foods with strong flavors are a sensory issue for me.”

“Oh, you’re a picky eater.”

“I guess you could put it like that…”

“That’s alright! I am too. If you don’t like it, I'll eat it.” George smiled. Melvin smiled back, then grabbed a slice of bacon and bit off the end of it.

“Hm… definitely a once-in-a-while food. But it’s not bad.”

“Yeah, alright!” George grinned. Melvin chuckled and continued eating. George glanced around a bit, drumming his fingers along the tabletop. "So... how'd you sleep?"

Oh god, he sounded like his mom.

"Alright," Melvin said. He didn't like talking much in the morning. He had only just woken up, he wasn't ready yet for social interaction.

“Alright…” George nodded awkwardly. “Umm… I had this  _ wild _ dream last night.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. It was like a queer hunger games. Except I woke up before the actual fight. They got me for being bisexual, and you for being trans, except I didn’t… know? That you were trans, for some reason?”

“Huh. Weird.”

“Heh…” George tapped his hands on the table, sitting back in his chair. Melvin stayed quiet, focusing on his breakfast. “Alright…”

* * *

The weekend had passed, and Melvin had returned to classes as normal, leaving George alone in the dorm room while he was gone. George sighed, sitting upside down on the bed and staring at the clock above the door. He had never gone this long without talking to someone, and he was pretty sure he was going  _ insane. _

Not to mention, his ADHD was going bonkers at the lack of stimulation. He had scrolled through his Tumblr dash at least five times, he was fresh out of ideas for his and Harold’s comic, and everyone seemed to be busy, so he couldn’t even talk to someone over text.

As the clock ticked past 4:00, the door opened as Melvin stepped inside. George perked up and quickly sat up properly. Melvin sighed, setting his dorm keys on the bedside table and his backpack on the floor.

“Melvin!” George exclaimed happily, jumping up to hug him.

“Oh! Hello, George…” Melvin smiled and hugged him back.

"Oh thank god you're back, I've been here alone with my thoughts all day and it's driving me  _ crazy! _ "

"... _ ohhh _ ." Melvin bit his lip nervously, glancing away. "Ah-ha..."

George started rambling about anything and everything that came to mind, following Melvin around as he unpacked. After a full minute, Melvin squeezed his eyes shut, realizing what he had gotten himself into.

He was  _ living  _ with an  _ extrovert-  _ possibly the biggest extrovert he'd ever met.

"George!" He interrupted, perhaps a little louder than he needed to. George faltered, pressing his fingers together as he looked at Melvin.

"...yes? Dear?"

"I'm sorry, but I've been surrounded by people all day, and I really need some time to just be alone and not have to listen to someone talking right in my ear." Melvin rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "Alright?"

"...oh." George deflated a bit. "Uh- yeah. Of course."

"Look, there are lots of things to do around here; I'm sure you can find something to do, ok?"

"Yeah, alright. I'll just-" George motioned towards the door awkwardly before stepping out.

Melvin sighed, laying back on his bed and rubbing at his face. He loved George. He did. But he never thought about what it would be like to actually  _ live  _ together, and now they were. Which was proving to be an issue, because George was  _ so outgoing. _

He could handle it before because they would only be together for a couple hours at a time, and then Melvin could recharge by himself in his room for the rest of the day. But now they were sharing a one-room dorm, and of course, after a whole day of being alone, George would want to talk his ear off, while for Melvin, after a whole day of being surrounded by people, all he wanted to was sit silently and study.

It's like, somehow, they got mixed up.

He shook his head, sitting up and stretching. He'll be alright, Melvin thought, as he changed out of his binder. He could go out in town whenever he wanted, he thought, setting out his homework and grabbing a pencil. He'll be fine.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings:  
Sexual humor/references  
Alcohol mention

George closed the door behind him, burying his hands in his pockets as he tried to think of what to do. Billy, Harold, and Lisa were all still in classes… he could see if Bo or Gooch or Sophie were free to talk-

His head snapped up. Erica! She and Melvin got out of classes at the same time! He quickly called her, foot tapping rapidly as the phone rang.

_ “Hey George, what’s up?” _

“Hey, Erica!” George grinned. “Are you free? Melvin kicked me out, I’m lookin’ for something to do.”

_ “Yeah, I don’t really have anything going on. Meet you outside the dorms in 10?” _

“Sounds good. See ya soon.” He hung up and bounced a bit, heading to the meeting spot.

Of course, the team stayed in touch, and they saw each other all the time during fights. But it had been a while since they actually  _ hung out _ , and definitely, George hadn’t hung with Erica in awhile. So he was excited to see her again.

He stood around outside the dorms, keeping an eye out for Erica. As he waited, he rolled up a ball of snow and tossed it around a bit, trying to see how high he could catch it. He threw it a little bit higher, but it ended up falling behind him and landing.

“Hey!” 

George jumped and spun around, seeing Erica standing behind him with a mound of snow on her head. He smiled sheepishly and she smirked. After glancing around and seeing no one nearby, a large ball of snow rose up, surrounded by Erica’s teal-colored magic.

“Woah woah, hey!” George quickly backed up and started to run as the snowball started chasing him. Erica laughed as George ran around the area. Suddenly, Erica grabbed George’s ankle with her magic, tripping him and making him fall into a pile of snow. She then dropped the giant snowball on top of him, effectively burying him. George dug himself out, glaring playfully.

“C’mon, that’s not fair!” He sat up and brushed the snow away. “I don’t have magic!”

“It’s not against the rules.” Erica shrugged, setting her hands in her pockets. Magic lifted George up to his feet.

“I could have gotten up by myself,” he said. Erica snickered, walking off towards the parking lot. After a pause to think, George ran up and shoved her from behind, sending her into another snow pile. She gasped, glaring up at George.

“Karma’s a bitch.” He stuck his tongue out. “C’mon, I wanna check the town out. What’s good around here?”

He held out a hand to help Erica up and she took it, brushing the snow off herself. “There’s a mall. It’s decent.”

“Oh man, I haven’t been to a mall in forever. Yeah, let’s do that.”

Erica pulled her keys out and unlocked her car. George sat in the passenger seat, rubbing his hands together. Erica started the car and air started blasting out of the vent, slowly turning warm. George stuck his hands in front of the warm air, sighing contently.

“So, you ended up coming after all?” Erica asked, glancing at him out of the corner of her eyes.

“Yeah. I just told Melvin I wasn’t so we wouldn’t end up arguing. That was one he wasn’t gonna budge on.”

Erica nodded. “He really didn’t wanna get in the way of your education.”

George snorted, holding his head in his hand and setting his elbow on the windowsill. “School would never be that important to me. I mean, it would have been nice to get my degree, but hell, I can go back and do that any time I want. But I can’t go back and redo  _ this. _ ”

“That’s… really true,” Erica agreed. “What about Harold? Billy and Lisa?”

“They’re gonna transfer somewhere nearby after this year. We’re all gonna rent an apartment together.”

“Ah man, the team’s been split up for so long.” Erica chuckled. “It’ll be nice to have at least half of us back together.”

“Pfft, yeah.” George snickered. “I think Sophie’s getting tired of teleporting all over the country to get all of us to whatever disaster pops up.”

The two of them chatted, catching up until they reached the mall. It was pretty empty, considering it was mid-afternoon on a Monday. They ended up getting something to eat and walking around, mainly window-shopping and talking.

“So we ended up getting separated.” George was in the middle of a story. He popped another soft pretzel bite into his mouth. “Which, ok, it’s a gay bar, I kinda expected it to happen at some point. But they were both kiiinda drunk, so we wanted to find them before something like,  _ bad  _ happened, y’know?”

“Mm-hm.” Erica nodded.

“Plus it was getting late and we wanted to get back to the dorms. So me and Lisa split up to look for them, and I  _ did  _ end up finding them. In the bathroom, doing… what you’d probably expect to find in a gay club bathroom.”

Erica snorted around the straw of her drink. “Oh god, Harold.”

"Yeah." George snickered. "I wasn't really sure what to say so I just ended up going with "We wanna go home so finish up and meet us outside." And I just. Left and called a Guuber."

“Seems reasonable.”

“Yeah-” George cut himself off, slowly to a stop. It took Erica a moment to realize he wasn’t next to her anymore, and she backed up to where he was standing and staring through one of the shop windows.

“...you ok, man?” Erica asked.

“Yeah, I…” George tilted his head a bit. “I never really paid attention to baby clothes before.”

Erica followed his line of sight to a rack of baby clothes near the front window of the shop. She took a sip from her drink, raising an eyebrow at George.

“You wanna look, don’t you?”

“I do.” He smiled sheepishly at her. Erica rolled her eyes fondly and motioned towards the store with her open hand. George ran past and grabbed her hand, pulling her along inside. She stood nearby as he started looking through the clothes.

"I think it just kinda hit me that, y'know… I'm gonna be a dad. I've never really cared about baby clothes before but… holy shit. Erica, I'm gonna be a  _ dad. _ "

"I know." Erica laughed, folding her arms. George grinned goofily and continued cooing at the different outfits. A woman passed by behind her, smiling slightly.

"Aw, isn't that sweet," she said to Erica. "You're so lucky." She set a hand on her pregnant belly. "The last thing my husband wants to do is go clothes shopping."

"Uh, we're not together." Erica rolled her eyes. "Just friends. He's the one who's gonna be a dad."

"Ohh." The woman nodded. "Well, whoever she is sure is lucky."

Erica snorted as the woman walked off. "Yeah, "she"." She shook her head and walked over to George. "Why does everyone always think I'm dating whatever guy I'm around? Does  _ anything  _ about me look straight?"

"Nope, your outfit pretty much screams "lesbian" to me." George gasped and held up a onesie. "Aww, look at this!  _ So small… _ "

"Pfft. Yeah yeah. Are you good now?"

"Yeah, I think so."

Soon they ended up back in the car, ready to head back to the dorms. Erica let the car run for a few minutes to warm up before she started to drive.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings:  
Alcohol mention  
Transphobia mention

"...I think it just kinda hit me."

Erica glanced over at George, who was staring out the window. "What did?"

"That… that I'm gonna be a dad. I'm gonna be a  _ dad,  _ Erica. I'm actually gonna be shopping for- for baby clothes and toys and shit." George started fidgeting with his tie. "There's gonna be an actual fucking  _ baby  _ that… I'm gonna be responsible for."

"Oh no. Dude, please don't have an existential crisis in my car-"

"Am I even ready to be a dad?" George ignored her. "I'm  _ twenty-one.  _ I mean, hell, just last week I was piss-drunk and thought it would be a good idea to try driving down the street in a shopping cart."

"Oh my god-"

"I'm not mature enough to be a dad! I'm a  _ college student,  _ I've eaten ramen for dinner for a month. I still don't know how to handle executive dysfunction, I just end up sitting there for two hours or focusing on a story for so long that I forget I  _ exist- _ "

"Ok, will you-" Erica held up a hand, effectively shutting George up. She sighed, holding back onto the wheel. "Ok. From what I've noticed, you are motivated by outside forces or looming deadlines, right?"

"I mean… yeah, I guess."

"A baby is a  _ huge  _ outside force and a looming deadline all at once. That's what gets you up and going. So, I think you'll be fine. You'll figure it out. Plus, no one is more responsible and mature than Melvin. If you can handle giant monsters and robots every other week, you can handle a baby."

George sat back in the seat, staring out the windshield as he thought. "...yeah. Yeah, I guess you're right."

"And hey, you know that phrase "it takes a village to raise a child"?"

"Kinda. Heard it before."

"You… pretty much  _ have  _ a village.  _ Five _ parents. That kid's gonna be pretty damn well-taken care of, even if you have a bad day." George laughed. "And I'm sure all your parents are happy to help out, right?"

"...shit." George's eyes widened and he sat up. " _ Shit,  _ I forgot about telling them!"

Erica inhaled through her teeth. "You should probably do that."

George groaned and sunk back in his seat. "Yeah… I'll do it with Melvin when we get home."

Erica glanced at him before reaching over to squeeze his hand. He raised an eyebrow and smiled a little, squeezing back.

"Hey man, I love you, ok? No hetero."

George laughed. "I love you too. No hetero."

* * *

George stepped inside the dorm room, closing the door behind him. Melvin looked up from the table he was working at.

"Hey."

"Hey." George smiled and walked over to kiss the top of Melvin's head. "Feeling better?"

Melvin sighed. "Yeah." He leaned back and stretched. "I'm sorry if I was crabby earlier."

"No, hey, it's alright. I get it. You need time alone, that's fine." Melvin smiled at him. "But…" George moved to sit in the chair next to him, "we need to tell our parents."

Melvin blinked and groaned, rubbing at his face. "It completely slipped my mind to tell them."

"Do you wanna call 'em now?"

"We might as well." Melvin didn't move, instead staring at the table in front of him. "...would you like to go first?"

"Yeah, alright." George pulled out his phone and hesitated for a second before calling his mom and setting the phone down on speaker.

_ "...hey sweetie!" _

"Hey, Mom." George glanced over at Melvin and squeezed his hand.

_ "How are you? How's college?" _

"Uh… ok. It's- is Dad there too? I gotta talk to you guys."

_ "Yeah, hold on." _

There was a pause and some distant mumbling on the other end. George fidgeted with his tie a bit as they waited.

_ "Hey buddy," George's dad spoke. "What's up? Everything good?" _

"Y-yeah." George swallowed nervously. "Um- you guys remember Melvin, right?"

"Do they remember me- we've been dating since 9th grade, George!"

"I dunno!" George blushed.

_ "Of course!" George's mom laughed. "Hi, Melvin! How are you?" _

"...pregnant."

_ "...huh?" _

_ Really?  _ George signed, looking at Melvin.  _ Like that? _

_ I panicked!  _ Melvin signed back. George groaned.

"Uh- yeah, you guys are gonna be grandparents." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Melvin's pregnant."

_ “...oh?” _

_ “Hey, that’s… exciting!” George’s dad said. _

“Yeah, we don’t really know how to react either, it’s fine.”

_ “Oh.” George’s mom sighed. “Honey, you’re still in college-” _

“I know.” George rubbed at his eyes. “Yeah, we- obviously this wasn’t planned. But it’s happening.”

_ “Well, we’re here for you if you need any help, ok?” _

“...thanks, Mom,” George said quietly. “Um- we should go. Melvin still has to tell his parents.”

_ “Alright. Keep us updated, ok? Love you.” _

“Love you too.” George hung up, staring at his phone. “Huh. That went… better than I thought it would.”

“You didn’t tell them you dropped out?” Melvin asked.

“Ugh. I’ll tell them later.” George sighed and sunk in his chair. “Your turn.”

Melvin tugged a bit at his shirt collar. “I think I’m only going to tell my mom today. M-my dad only just started to accept that I’m a boy…”

“Hey, you don’t gotta tell him yet if you don’t want.” George sat forward to hold Melvin’s hand securely.

“I know.” Melvin looked at their hands, running his thumb along the back of George’s. “I’ll tell him later. I’ll call my mom right now.” 

He gently kissed the back of George’s hand before standing up to grab his phone from the bedside table. He sat back down, exchanging looks with George before calling his mom.

_ Ringing. Ringing. Ringing. _

_ Click. _

_ “Hi Melvin!” _

“Hi, Mother.”


	7. Raspberry

Melvin sipped the ginger ale beside him on the table as he scrolled through various websites on his phone. It was dark in the dorm room, ignoring the glow from his screen. The sun would come up soon, he could tell, as the room had barely begun to light up.

Melvin wasn’t a stranger to being awake to see the sunrise, despite never having actually watched it. Whether he was inventing or researching or doing homework, he was always too busy to actually stop and look.

...he paused, looking up away from his phone. Huh.

He looked over at George, who was still dead asleep in bed. After sitting for a moment in thought, Melvin stood up and grabbed his coat. After pulling it on, he tucked his phone in his pocket, grabbed the ginger ale can, grabbed his keys, and left the dorm room.

They weren’t technically supposed to go up here, Melvin thought, as he sat on the edge of the roof above the dorm rooms. But no authorities ever actually bothered to check if anyone was up here, and he found it was a nice spot to think that wasn’t his room or the library. This time, though, Melvin wasn’t here to think. No, he had been doing a lot of that lately. He needed a break.

He took another sip from the can in his hand, feeling his stomach settle more. He let himself become invisible, seeing- or rather, not seeing- his hand vanish around the ginger ale. For the first time he could remember, Melvin just sat and watched the sunset.

Slowly, the sun grew over the horizon, bathing the campus in gray light. Snow glistened on the ground, on parked cars, on the roofs of the other buildings. Icicles reflected the sunlight as it went through them, creating small pinpricks of light. Only a few other students were out and about this early. Everyone else was likely sleeping in.

Soon the sun was fully up, and the campus slowly came to life. Melvin stood up and stretched, feeling the visibility return to his skin. He sighed, finishing his ginger ale and turning to walk back to his dorm room.

George was still sound asleep. Melvin threw the can away and sat back down at the table and buried his face in his hands as his thoughts flowed back in.

A month ago, everything had changed. Had it really only been a month? He suppose it had.

If you had asked anyone else if anything had changed, they’d probably say no. No, Melvin hadn’t changed. He was still the smartass, top-of-the-class, snappy classmate no one ever bothered to talk to. He was the student who would rather study or suck up to the professors than go to parties. He was the same as he had been since freshman year.

But, if you had been one of those lucky few Melvin bothered to talk to, you’d know that everything had been changing. And Melvin wasn’t very good with changing. On the outside he looked the same ( _ for now,  _ that little voice snarled in the back of his mind), but internally he hadn’t been able to think of much else besides  _ it. _

It was an it. ( _ For now. _ ) It wasn’t going to change anything. ( _ For now. _ ) He was still going to graduate, get his PhDs, patent a couple of inventions and do everything he wanted to. It wasn’t that big of a deal. ( _ Yet. _ )

Melvin sat down with his breakfast, shoving all that into the back of his mind again. He was very good at ignoring his feelings. He had plenty of practice. He continued scrolling through his phone as he researched and ate.

“Make any for me?” Melvin jumped at hearing George behind him. The taller boy kissed the top of his head, holding his shoulders.

“George! Don’t do that.” Melvin glared. “Yes, there’s some eggs on the counter still.”

“Sweet.” George grabbed the plate and sat in his usual spot. At this point, he figured out that Melvin didn’t usually like talking after he woke up.

“Did you know that a fetus at eight weeks old is about the size of a raspberry?”

George set his fork down and looked at Melvin. “How much sleep did you get?”

“A little over two hours.” Melvin frowned and poked at his food. “I couldn’t sleep. I was researching.”

George sighed. “Melvin-”

“Yeah, I know, just save it.” Melvin growled, not looking up. “I just couldn’t sleep. It happens. I’m fine.”

“Alright, alright,” George replied, turning back to his breakfast. “...a raspberry?”

“Or a kidney bean. I saw both.”

“Wow.”

“And in medical terms, it’s officially a fetus now. At eight weeks.”

“As opposed to…?”

“An embryo.”

“Ah.” George nodded. “Gotcha.” Melvin nodded, falling silent. “...hey, are you ok? You research a lot when you’re stressed.”

““Am I ok?” Of course I’m not ok.” Melvin growled. So much for ignoring his feelings. “There’s a fucking  _ fetus  _ growing inside me. I didn’t want this. Everyone’s going to find out I’m trans sooner or later because I’m  _ fucking pregnant.  _ Everything is wrong and different and it’s just going to change more. This wasn’t the plan. No I’m not ok, you chewed gumstick.”

“Hey, I’m sorry, I was just asking.” George mumbled, looking back down at his plate. Melvin sighed, rubbing at his eyes under his glasses.

“No, it’s- I’m sorry, I’m just still irritated by this whole situation.” Melvin waved his hand a bit and shoved the last bit of his breakfast into his mouth. “It’s not your fault.”

“Ok…” George nodded, watching his boyfriend. He stood up to wash his plate, and George leaned back in his chair a bit. “Y’know… maybe you shouldn’t be calling this a “situation”-”

“It’s  _ fine! _ ” Melvin snapped, making George flinch. “That’s what it is. That’s what anything is. I can call it whatever I want.”

“I’m just saying, you’re talking about it like it’s gonna be resolved eventually-”

“I’m going out.” Melvin ignored him, tugging his coat on and shoving his phone in his pocket.

“Melvin, come on-”

“I’ll be back later.” Melvin stepped outside into the hallway and slammed the door shut behind him.


	8. Passion Fruit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings:  
Partial nudity  
Unintentional self injury

“I’m here!”

Melvin panted as he ran down the staircase in the lecture room to his seat next to Erica. He groaned, breathing heavily and setting his bag down beside his chair. Erica eyed him, rubbing his back. The professor began the lesson of the day, and everyone turned to listen.

“You ok, man?” Erica asked quietly. “You’ve never been late before-”

“I- slept in,” Melvin managed to say. He wheezed a bit and felt a pressure on his chest, so he pulled his inhaler out of his bag and breathed in. “I don’t know how I-” Breathe. “Slept in. I never- sleep in.”

“Doesn’t pregnancy make you tired?” Erica asked. Melvin groaned and set his forehead on the desk. The pressure was still there, so he breathed in with his inhaler one more time, but it wouldn’t go away.

He frowned, setting a hand on his chest. He tried breathing in deeply without the inhaler, and he felt a dull stab of pain near his ribcage. He coughed, and the pain pulsed again.

“S-something’s wrong,” he mumbled, breathing in and coughing again. “I-I can’t- my chest hurts-”

“You ok?” Erica worried. “What about your-?”

“I-I used it, it’s- it’s not helping.” He winced, folding his arms tightly over himself. “Erica-”

“You need to take off your binder,” she whispered, grabbing Melvin’s arms.

“What-?”

“You need to take it off.” She pulled him up and lead him out of the lecture hall, leaving their bags behind. “Come on.”

He kept coughing, trying to breathe until they got to the bathrooms. She sat him in one of the stalls, closing the door behind them. Melvin opened one eye to look around. “Where-”

“Boys’ bathroom.” Erica sat down in front of him.

“Y-you can’t-”

“Don’t worry about me. Melvin, you have to take off your binder.”

He realized what Erica meant and nodded, shakily undoing his bowtie and tugging his shirt off. Grabbing the bottom of his binder in a criss-cross motion, he managed to pull it over his head and immediately felt better. He took one more deep breath with his inhaler and the pressure and pain subsided. He breathed for a moment, sighing in relief.

“You ok?” Erica asked.

“Y-yeah, I…” Melvin frowned, looking down at the side of his chest. An angry red mark glared up at him from where the seam of his binder had been. He ran his fingers along it. “I-I don’t get it. It fit…”

“Melvin, you can’t wear that while you’re pregnant.”

“I can’t go to class without it.”

“You’re gonna have to-”

“No, I won’t.” Melvin set his face. “I just needed a break. I shouldn’t have run in it. I’m fine now-”

He reached to grab the binder off the floor, but Erica grabbed it first and held it away. Melvin frowned. “Erica, give it back-”

“No.” She used her magic to make it float above them where Melvin couldn’t reach. His jaw dropped a bit, staring at her.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes, I’m serious! Melvin, you  _ couldn’t breathe.  _ That’s a big deal.” Erica frowned. “Melvin, it’s not going to fit. Your breasts grow when you’re pregnant.” Melvin sat back, folding his arms and looking upset. “And you know the risks of wearing a binder that’s too small.”

He glanced around the bathroom floor, keeping his arms folded and frowning

“Listen. I know, it sucks. But you could get seriously hurt. Is it really worth it?”

“...I don’t have a bra.”

“I’ll call George to bring you one.” Erica sat back against the wall next to him, pulling out her phone. As she called, Melvin focused on his chest, making his breasts invisible. He sighed. He wished it could work like that, but even invisible, they would still be a bump under his clothes.

"Alright, George is on his way," Erica said as she hung up.

"Huh?" Melvin looked up. "Oh. Yeah. Ok."

"...you alright?"

"...I could almost go out without a shirt," Melvin said, looking back down. "If it didn't look like I don't have nipples.”

Erica snorted, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah, I guess.”

“...uh. You can go back to class, if you want. I’ll be back soon.” 

“Alright.” Erica nodded and set his binder on the floor next to him. “See ya soon.”

* * *

Melvin looked himself over in the mirror, frowning and turning sideways. He held a hand over his stomach, which bumped out a bit. It was noticeable at this point, but only if you were looking for it. Still, it looked  _ so obvious  _ to Melvin, and he hated it. Everything was adding up too quickly: his growing stomach, not being able to wear his binder, all buried under a pile of hormones and repressed feelings.

He really,  _ really  _ didn’t like this.

“Heyy.” George appeared behind him, wrapping his arms around his shoulders. Melvin jumped and screamed, spinning around to see him. He blushed, angry folding his arms to hide his embarrassment.

“Don’t do that!”

George held up his hands, looking confused. “I’m sorry, I… thought you heard me come in.”

Melvin looked at the door, blinking. “...oh.” His arms dropped to his sides, then folded back up when he remembered he didn’t have a shirt on. “I-I- um- s-sorry.”

“It’s alright.” George gently cupped his head, kissing the top of it. “You ok?”

“Yeah. Yes. I’m- I’m fine. Just, uh,” he glanced back at the mirror, “looking at my stomach… I know, it’s weird-”

“No, it’s not weird.” George smiled and set a hand on Melvin’s stomach. “Hey little buddy, I’m home. How big are they?”

“About the size of a passion fruit,” Melvin answered quietly, watching George’s hand.

“Oh, a  _ passion  _ fruit, huh?” George murmured, pulling Melvin closer by his hips. “Well, on the topic of  _ passion… _ ” He held Melvin’s face…

...and Melvin started  _ sobbing. _

“Shit.” George’s eyes widened as he stepped back a bit. “Ok, shit, not a good time. Fuck, what’s wrong?”

“I-I-I-” Melvin cried harder, unable to get anything out past his sobbing. George led him to sit down on the bed, trying to help him calm down.

“Ssh ssh, hey, it’s ok, what’s wrong?”

"I-I-” Melvin sobbed, his tears staining his glasses. “E-every-ything is ch-changing a-a-and I ca-can’t w-wear my bi-inder a-and everyon-one’s go-onna know and-” He cried harder, coughing a bit. “ _ I don’t like it!  _ My-y boobs are ge-etting big-ger an-nd my st-stomach is t-t-too and everyone’s gonna be able to te-e-e-ell!”

George frowned, holding his boyfriend closely as he cried. He gently rubbed his back and rocked him back and forth, trying to soothe him. Mainly, though, he was just letting him get all of it out.

“Ssh, it’s ok, it’s ok,” George murmured as Melvin continued to cry. “You’re alright…”

A couple minutes passed like that before Melvin was calm enough to talk. He hiccuped occasionally, and kept coughing a little, but for the most part it seemed to be over.

“Feeling better?” George asked.

“...mm-hm.” Melvin nodded.

“Ok, so what was that all about? I couldn’t understand a word you were saying with all those hyphens.”

Melvin tugged the blanket over his chest, fidgeting with it as he frowned. “Everyone’s going to be able to tell soon… everyone’s going to know I’m trans…”

“Ah…” George nodded. He sighed, wrapping an arm around Melvin and holding him close. “I’m sorry, Mel. Hey, maybe everyone will be chill about it! People have been getting cooler about that stuff lately.”

“That’s a very big “maybe”,” Melvin mumbled. He hiccuped and took off his glasses to clean them. “I just wish I could not exist until this whole thing is over.”

“Hey, it’ll be alright,” George said. “I promise. Whatever happens, you’re still my sweet prince.”

He gently kissed the side of Melvin’s head, making him smile softly.

“Thank you, dearest.”

* * *

Melvin sat in the lounge area outside the dorm rooms. He hadn’t bothered to get a TV for his room, so whenever the rest of the team was called out for a fight, he ended up in the lounge with half the rest of the students in that building, watching it on the news. For most of the people there, it was nothing more than an exciting bit of action in the midst of otherwise boring reports. For Melvin, it was a chance to see what he was missing.

The camera moved quickly, following the team around as they fought what looked like a giant rodent-squid alien. The other students cheered loudly as it was defeated, and the Acronym team was revealed to be safe yet again. The livestream didn’t stop there, though. The reporter ran up to the team before they got a chance to leave, followed by the cameraman.

_ “Wait, a couple of questions, please! Before you leave!” _

_ “Sure!” Queerlossus grinned, lifting Wild Ace into his arms so he would be on camera. _

_ “Yeah, feel free!” Buh-Bi nodded. _

_ “Thank you so much,” the reporter said. “First question- Transcendence seems to be missing from the team lately. Did something happen?” _

Melvin sat up a bit, more attentive. A couple of the surrounding students murmured. George, on screen, seemed to hesitate.

_ “Uh- well, he-” Buh-Bi scratched the back of his head. “One second, please?” _

_ He stepped off camera, and Gayrold smiled nervously. _

_ “He’s just, uh- h-here, ask us a couple more questions while he’s gone, huh?” _

A few seconds later, Melvin's phone went off. No one turned away to glance at him as he answered.

_ “Hey, sweetie. Are you-?” _

“Yes, I’m watching. Go ahead.”

_ “Oh.” George sighed in relief. “Ok, cool. I’ll see you soon, love ya.” _

_ Buh-Bi appeared back on screen. “Whew! Ok. Sorry, I just wanted to ask him first. Um- Transcendence hasn’t been fighting because… he’s pregnant.” _

_ “We’re gonna be dads!” Harold squealed, jumping up to hug Buh-Bi around the neck. _

The room went  _ ballistic. _

The other students were screaming and cheering louder than Melvin had ever heard them. He quickly covered his ears, doubling over on the couch. The team was still talking on the TV, but no one was listening, and Melvin certainly wasn’t going to hear anything more. He quickly escaped back to his dorm room, leaving the rest of the students to watch the report.


	9. Apple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings:  
Sexual humor

Melvin mumbled to himself as he dug through the fridge in the dorm, pulling out a varied assortment of foods. It was late- almost 1:00 am- but Melvin was still awake. Well, not  _ still _ \- he did manage to get a couple hours of sleep, but he woke up around 12:30 craving nearly everything under the sun.

After finally being satisfied with the food piled in his arms, he nodded and closed the fridge, only to yelp and jump at seeing George on the other side of the door.

“Oh come on, I didn’t even do anything this time!”

“I thought you were asleep,” Melvin grumbled, turning to set everything on the table.

“You should be.” George raised an eyebrow at the spread. “What are you doing?”

“I woke up twenty minutes ago craving every single food in existence and I am starving.” Melvin sat down and pulled open a container of leftover taco meat, spread it over half a bagel, poured a can of soda into a bowl, dipped it in that, and took a bite.

“What the  _ fuck  _ are you eating.”

“I don’t know!” Melvin replied through a full mouth. “All I know is I want it!”

“Can you even eat half of this?” George sifted through the pile of food. “What about your allergy?”

“I am not immediately throwing up which means I either have to deal with a stomach ache or a rash later, both of which I am completely willing to put up with.” Melvin finished whatever monstrosity he had just constructed and started to make something new. George watched in horror.

“I think I’m gonna be sick.”

“Then go be sick somewhere else! I finally got over my morning sickness, I’m done seeing vomit!” Melvin rolled his eyes and continued eating. George shook his head, deciding to get dressed and go out, since neither of them was going to sleep soon. He knew there was a gay bar nearby, that should still be open.

* * *

“Hey guys!”

_ “Hayyy!” Harold shouted, waving at the camera. Billy flinched next to him, smiling slightly. “How are you guys? How’s the baby?” _

“We’re alright.” George laughed. He and Melvin were sitting at the table, on a video call with Billy, Harold, and Lisa. “Just got home. Melvin, you wanna share?”

“The doctor said that it’s perfectly healthy, developing right on track,” Melvin reported, watching his hands. “Nothing out of the ordinary.”

_ “That’s awesome!” Lisa smiled. _

_ “Did he say when we can find out the gender?” Harold asked. _

Melvin frowned, not looking up. “I don’t want to find out.”

There was a pause.

_ “...like, ever?” Billy asked, confused. _

“No, just- I want to wait until it’s born. I don’t want to make a big deal about the gender. B-because it might not even be true." Melvin motioned at himself. "And besides, if we tell everyone what it is they're just going to get unnecessarily gendered toys and clothes."

_ "Ugh, that's true," Harold groaned. Billy and Lisa nodded in agreement. _

"Well, that's alright! If you wanna wait we can wait." George smiled. Melvin paused, glancing between him and the screen.

"Really? I thought you guys would argue with that more…"

_ "Your argument had a valid point," Billy said. "I like the idea." _

_ "Yeah, we can just get them a bunch of toys and clothes without worrying about if they're for a boy or girl." Lisa smiled. _

"...y-yeah. That's perfect." Melvin nodded. "Um- alright."

_ "Can we still have a baby shower though?" Harold asked. "Those aren't about gender!" _

"We'll see. I don't know if I want to be the center of attention."

_ Harold nodded, but he looked determined to do the party anyways. _

_ "How big is the baby this week?" Billy asked. _

"An apple, or an avocado," Melvin answered. "But I feel like a watermelon. Ugh, I am already so done with this."

"Don't you mean a watermelv-"

"George I want you to do two things. First, ask yourself if you'd like to live. Second, if the answer to that is yes, don't finish that fucking sentence."

George bit his lip, trying hard not to laugh. Melvin glared at him, almost as if challenging him to say it, before-

_ "Watermelvin." _

George and Harold both burst out laughing as Melvin glared harshly at the phone screen. Harold laughed harder seeing Melvin's face and disappeared backward off-screen. Melvin turned and smacked George's arm.

"I told you not to finish!"

"I didn't say it! Harold did!"

"You share a brain!"

_ "I CAN'T BREATHE!" Harold wheezed from off-screen. Billy rolled his eyes fondly and helped Harold sit back up as his laughter faded. _

George sighed, leaning forward and setting his face in his hands. "I miss you guys."

_ "We miss you too!" Lisa smiled. _

_ "Me too!" Harold whined. _

"But only two more months until you guys can move out here!" George grinned.

_ "Yeah! We're so excited!" Harold beamed. "I'm gonna smooch you so much your face is gonna be sore." _

"That might not be the only thing that's sore-"

"OK!" Melvin quickly hung up the call and slammed the phone down onto the table.

"Aw, come on!" George laughed, leaning across the table.

"I'm not listening to the two of you flirt." Melvin rolled his eyes. George chuckled and say up, setting his head in one hand.

"Don't you have swimming with Erica today? Why don't you go do that?"

Melvin groaned. " _ Fine. _ "

George stood up to kiss the top of Melvin's head. "I'll see you later, prince."

"Yeah yeah." Melvin pouted before getting his stuff gathered.

* * *

"I hate this. I hope you know I hate this."

"Look, the doctor said you needed to exercise, and  _ you  _ said you'd rather swim than walk. So it's happening."

Melvin pouted as Erica helped him down into the water. He sat down on the ledge around the edge of the pool, tugging at his shirt.

"I only picked it because wearing a t-shirt in water hides everything easier. I still hate it."

Erica rolled her eyes and folded her arms. "If you keep bitching I'm gonna leave you in here by yourself."

"No!" Melvin's eyes widened and he quickly grabbed Erica's arms. "Please don't leave me alone."

"That's what I thought." Her magic pried Melvin's hands off her arm and she held onto his hands. "Now come on."

"I-I never really "got" swimming, to be honest," Melvin said nervously as he moved away from the edge of the pool. "I never really swam after 5th grade…"

"I know. So let's learn."

They spent a couple hours swimming, and Melvin even managed to have fun before they got out.

"See? It wasn't that bad," Erica said as she ran her towel over her hair.

"I guess." Melvin sighed and laid back on the seat. He rubbed at his eyes before putting his glasses back on. "Oh, sweet sweet single-vision. That's maybe the worst part of swimming, I can't wear my glasses."

"You literally invented a mask that works like glasses, just make them for swimming."

Melvin blinked, groaning and covering his eyes again. "Why didn't I think of that! I'm not usually this scatterbrained, what's happening?"

Erica laughed. "I don't know man. You wanna go get lunch?"   
" _ God  _ yes, I am starving."


	10. Bell Pepper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings:  
Alcohol

Melvin sat at the table, staring at the ultrasound pictures in his hands. He should really be studying; the end of the school year was quickly approaching, which meant finals. Sure, he could probably pass them without even trying, but that didn’t mean he was going to slack off.

So, really, he should put the pictures down and get back to work.

...He had a lot of homework to get done. It was time to focus.

They had gotten the ultrasound earlier that day when they went for a check-up. The doctor said he was able to tell what it would be, but Melvin didn’t want to know. It didn’t matter anyway, right? It wasn’t like it  _ determined  _ anything. So there wasn’t a  _ point  _ to finding out early.

Usually, Melvin did a decent job at ignoring it to focus on more important things. Like his fucking  _ homework _ , which he should really be doing now.

And yet he couldn’t stop staring at it. Like, it was actually there. That was inside him. God, the concept of that felt so weird. The thing inside him actually had a shape and a face and  _ fingers  _ at this point. And he, for some reason he couldn’t explain to himself, had been reading pregnancy websites. So he  _ knew  _ how it had been developing. But it was a lot different, actually seeing it. And he didn’t know why.

“I got dinner!” George stepped into the dorm room, holding up a bag of Burrito Barn. “I know you’ve been craving spicy shit lately so I figured you’d be ok with-”

“It’s a girl.”

“...what?”

Melvin sat back in his chair, holding the pictures. “It’s a girl. I can tell.”

George walked over and set the fast food bags down on the table, looking at the scans over Melvin’s shoulder. “...how?”

Melvin pointed. “I just- it’s kind of obvious, isn’t it?”

“...uhh, sure. S-so-” George moved around to look at Melvin. “It’s a girl?”

Melvin nodded, then frowned a bit.

“...is that… bad?”

“N-no! No, it’s not- it doesn’t  _ matter _ , though.” Melvin looked upset, and he finally looked away from the ultrasounds, shoving them under one of his books. “It’s  _ female _ , that doesn’t mean- it doesn’t  _ mean  _ anything. So why do I care? Why am I excited? I-I’m not- it might not even be  _ true- _ ”

“Hey.” George set a hand on his arm. He hesitated, thinking. “It… there’s a difference between saying they’re a boy or girl and being excited about it, and… forcing them to do or be certain things because of it.”

Melvin frowned and looked at his hands, which were fidgeting. “But… it might  _ not  _ be, I shouldn’t be so excited.”

“So you be excited if they figure out they’re not a girl. And yeah it might not  _ mean  _ anything, but it’s ok to be happy about  _ knowing. _ ”

“...yeah.” Melvin nodded a bit. “Yeah, I guess.”

George smiled and kissed him before grabbing the scans and looking at them. “So. Our little…?”

“Bell pepper.”

“Bell pepper is a girl?”

“...yeah.” Melvin nodded, lightly touching a finger to the picture. “It- she is. She is.”

* * *

Melvin rolled over in bed yet again, trying desperately to get back to sleep. He opened his eyes, groaning and rubbing at them. He checked his phone, and  _ 2:43 am  _ shone angrily back at him. He had woken up over half an hour ago to his leg cramping horribly, and while he had managed to make it stop, he hadn’t been able to fall back asleep.

The door to the room slowly creaked open, as if the person coming in was trying to be quiet (and failing). Melvin rolled his eyes, moving onto his back and rubbing at his face. “I’m awake, George. You can come in.”

George’s face appeared around the side of the door, and he smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. I d’dn’t mean t’ wake ya.”

“Not your fault.” Melvin pushed himself to sit up as George closed the door. “My leg woke me up.” He put his glasses on, blinking as his pupils straightened out.

George stumbled a little on his way over to the bed, and he sat down a little forcibly on the edge before leaning back and stretching. He grinned, laying down with his head next to Melvin's side and lightly rubbing his belly.

“Hey pr’ncess. ‘M home. How’re you?”

“Are you drunk?”

“ _ Noooo, _ ” George lied, avoiding looking up. Melvin folded his arms. “I took a Guuber! ‘M  _ fine _ , see?”

Melvin rolled his eyes and smiled fondly, running a hand over George’s hair. He grinned and rolled his tongue, moving up to hold Melvin’s face and kiss him. “Hi.”

“Hi, George.”

“She c'n hear me, right?” George asked, sitting up a bit and rubbing Melvin’s stomach.

“Yes, she should be able to at this point."

"Hi sweetie," George whispered, leaning close to Melvin's belly. "Hi I love you. Daddy loves you very much. He loves you a lot. Don' tell him but maybe he loves you more'n yer dad."

" _ Hey. _ "

George looked up at Melvin for a moment, then back at his stomach. "I said don' tell him!"

Melvin snorted and pulled George up towards the head of the bed. "Come on, you should get some sleep."

"Aww!" George whined. "But 'm talkin' to- she needs a name. Melvin, we need t' get her a name."

"We'll figure that out later. Here, go get some water, alright?"

George nodded and got up to grab a water bottle from the fridge. He laid back down, drinking from the bottle for a couple minutes until it was empty. He sighed, tossing the bottle to the other side of the room.

"Feel better?" Melvin asked.

"...mm-hm." George nodded. "She needs a name, Mel."

"I know, we'll handle it later. Time to sleep."

"Mm, yeah." George yawned and moved to lay behind Melvin, wrapping an arm around his middle. "I love you…"

"I love you, too." Melvin patted George's arm. "Goodnight, dearest."


	11. Ear of Corn

"HAROLD!"

George slammed into Harold as soon as he saw him, knocking them both to the ground. Harold squealed excitedly, hugging his boyfriend back and returning the barrage of kisses he was giving.

"George! I missed youuu!" Harold whined, holding him tightly.

"I missed you too!"

"I know I said I was fine but it was  _ hell!  _ I never wanna be away from you for that long again!"

"Hey." Melvin lightly kicked the two of them. "On the floor in the middle of an airport isn't the best spot to make out. Get up."

They both blushed and grinned sheepishly. George stood up and held out a hand for Harold, who pulled himself up. George turned to Lisa and grinned, hugging her.

"I missed you guys!" He held her face and kissed her.

"We missed you too." Lisa smiled. Harold bounced on his feet a bit and hugged Melvin, who returned the affection by patting his back.

"Look at you! That's her in there, hi sweetie!" Harold cooed at Melvin's stomach.

"We get it, I'm pregnant," Melvin growled. "Can we at least get home before everyone starts freaking out?"

"Heh. Sorry." Harold smiled and picked up George, making him yelp.

"Harold!"

"Nope! I missed you for five months so I'm gonna carry you." He rubbed his nose against George's and they both giggled. Billy rolled his eyes, smiling as he and Lisa grabbed their bags.

"That's gay," Lisa murmured, drawing a snicker from the boy beside her. Melvin moved to walk with them to the car. 

"Hey, how have you been?" Billy asked quietly.

"My hormones are all over the place and my entire body is in pain, but at least my dysphoria has settled into a constant dull ache instead of stabbing me in the skull 24/7."

Billy smiled softly and rubbed Melvin's back. "You're almost there."

"Pfft, thanks…"

* * *

"So this is the apartment."

Harold set the bags (which he carried up from the car) down in the middle of the floor. The apartment was one large room for living and dining, a kitchen off the side, a bathroom, and two small bedrooms. The main room they were in had two couches, a TV, and a coffee table for the living room, and a small round table with three chairs next to a lamp on the other half.

"Ooh, it's nice." Lisa looked around.

"The room on the left is going to be for the baby," Melvin said.

"And in our room, we only have a queen-sized bed, which… is kinda small for five of us. We're working on getting a king but…"

"Two of us are going to have to sleep out here on the couches."

"Two of  _ us. _ " George motioned to the four of them minus Melvin. "Melvin gets to sleep in the bed."

"I can sleep on the couch-"

"Melvin you can barely sleep in a bed, how much sleep are you gonna get on the couch?" 

Melvin rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine." The other three exchanged looks. "You guys unpack, I need to use the bathroom."

Melvin left for the bathroom, and George rubbed the back of his head. "He's been… grouchy."

"Yeah, I get why." Lisa nodded. 

"Yeah. Um- you guys get settled." George motioned towards the bedroom. "I'm gonna make lunch."

* * *

Melvin stepped into the apartment, closing the door behind him with his foot. He set his backpack down, which was filled with books from the library. He looked up, seeing Billy reading on one of the couches. 

"Hey." He waved.

"Hey." Melvin glanced around. "Um- where are the others?"

"They're napping." Billy nodded towards the bedroom.

"Ah." Melvin nodded and pulled out one of the books he checked out before sitting on the other end of the couch Billy was on. He sighed, stretching out. "Ugh, my back hurts."

Billy chuckled a bit. "I guess it would." Melvin moved to lay across the couch, propping himself up on the pillow next to him. "Do you want me to move-?"

"No, it's alright." Melvin folded his legs up a bit and folded his arms behind his head, looking up at the ceiling and growling. "Everyone keeps treating me like I'm delicate or something. I'm not. I can handle myself."

"I'm sorry… I-I didn't mean it like that. I meant, if you wanted the couch, I could move."

"It's- you're alright. Thank you, though." Melvin grabbed the book he had gotten and was about to open it, when suddenly-

Melvin blinked, sitting up and looking at his stomach. His mouth fell into a small o, and he set a hand on the bump.

"...everything ok?" Billy asked.

"...I- I felt something," Melvin mumbled. And then it happened again- a small bump against the inside of his belly. “Sh-she’s kicking.”

“Really?” Billy’s eyes widened. “Has she done it before?”

Melvin shook his head, keeping his hand in place. There was another kick, right up to the center of his palm. A barely-audible gasp escaped him.

“...it is ok if- c-can I feel?” Billy asked quietly. Melvin looked up.

“Uh- y-yeah, of course.” He sat up fully, moving Billy’s hand to where the kicks were. There was a pause before Billy gasped, perfectly timed with another little bump.

“Oh, she’s so small,” he said in a hushed whisper.

“An ear of corn.”

“Wow… ha-have you and George, um- have you picked a name yet?”

“Not yet… but you would be involved too, you know. In picking a name.”

“Are you sure...?” Billy asked. “I-I don’t want to… she’s your guys’ kid-”

“You’re her dad too, Billy,” Melvin said, frowning slightly. “If you want to be. George said the three of you wanted to be involved-”

“I-I do! I just… I don’t know if it’s my place.”

“It is.” Melvin hesitated before grabbing both of Billy’s hands and squeezing them. “You’re her dad, too. You and Harold. And Lisa would be the mom, right? We’re all doing this. Because I sure as hell can’t do it alone.”

Billy smiled, then looked down at the belly bump. “I… I always really liked the name “Kei” for a girl. It was my grandma’s name.”

“This is the farthest we’ve gotten for names so far.” Melvin laughed. “We’ll consider it. It is nice.”

Billy nodded, putting his hand back to feel the little kicks from the baby. “She’s so small…”


	12. Head of Lettuce

“I don’t know how you talked me into this.”

“C’mon, it’s fun!” Harold snapped a party hat onto Melvin’s head and booped his nose. “It’s just like a pool party. But you get presents!”

“I don’t  _ like  _ pool parties,” Melvin grumbled as Harold ran off to jump into the pool. He turned as the water splashed towards him. He sighed, kicking his feet in the water as everyone else swam and ran around. George sat down next to him after a minute, holding out a bottle of water.

“Got you a drink.”

“Thanks.” Melvin took it and took a sip. 

“You having fun?” George asked, waving his feet through the water.

“Not really. I didn’t want to have a baby shower.”

George sighed and set an arm around Melvin. “I know. I’m sorry. But we’re really gonna need the help. We won’t have to buy as much.”

“Yeah…” Melvin mumbled. George looked around and stood up.

“Hey, come on. Why don’t you swim a bit?”

“I don’t  _ want  _ to swim-”

“Nah, too bad, you need exercise.” George grinned and pulled Melvin up by his hand. “Come on, you’re swimming.”

“ _ George- _ ”

George grabbed Melvin’s water bottle and set it down with his soda before pulling Melvin towards the pool entrance.

“Come on, you’re gonna get like, heatstroke or something.”

“It’s not that hot-” Melvin squeaked a bit as he stepped into the cold water. George laughed and Melvin glared at him, shoving him backwards into the water. George yelled out before he was submerged.

Melvin smirked triumphantly, folding his arms. “I told you I didn’t want to-”

He screamed as George popped up in front of him, wrapped his arms around him, and pulled him all the way into the water. He let go once they were underwater, and Melvin quickly resurfaced, gasping.

“ _ Christ,  _ that’s cold!” He shouted, growling at George. George grinned, backing up further into the pool.

“You gotta come get me!” He teased.

Melvin did end up having fun, for the record. He wouldn’t admit it to anyone, especially not George, but the baby shower ended up being a lot of fun. They got lots of baby supplies, including clothes, toys, and care products- and not one single object in a complete shade of pink. Afterwards, the rest of the team helped them pack and clean up.

“Man, what a haul!” Bo said, looking through the clothes. The sun was beginning to set over the park, and the nine of them were the only ones left, sitting at two of the picnic benches pushed together.

“Aw, look at this one!” Gooch held up a onesie from the bag next to them. “It has a dolphin!”

“That one’s my favorite!” Harold squeaked, grinning.

_ Someone really found a Doopity the Dancing Dolphin plush?  _ Sophie asked, holding it up.  _ I thought these were discontinued. _

Melvin snatched it from her, holding it close. “That’s for  _ me. _ ” A couple of the others chuckled. Melvin pouted and ran a hand along the head of the plush. “Don’t worry Doopity, I won’t lose you this time.”

“I still can’t believe you guys are having a  _ kid. _ ” Bo shook his head.

“I call being the favorite uncle!” Gooch raised his hand.

“Is there not a gender-neutral word for aunt or uncle?” Erica asked. Gooch shrugged and mumbled an “I dunno.”

“Let’s make one!” Harold said. “You can be the…”

“Ankle!” George laughed.

“Ankle?” Lisa raised an eyebrow.

“It’s a combination of “aunt” and “uncle.” Ankle!”

“I like it!” Gooch grinned. “Ankle Gooch!”

“...Ankle Gooch it is, I guess.” Billy laughed.

“Aw, you guys gotta move back to Ohio after college so we can see them,” Bo said.

“ _ Maybe  _ I’ll see if I can transfer somewhere nearby once they’re done.” Melvin nodded at the other three.

_ Good.  _ Sophie smiled and hugged Melvin with one arm.  _ We miss you guys. _

“Yeah, I miss our sleepovers!” Gooch whined. Erica laughed.

A gentle silence settled over the group, and Melvin watched the sun as it set and bathed the park in red and orange light. He took a deep breath and sighed. Seven months. He was almost done with this, and it was becoming more and more real.

“We, should, uh,” Billy stood up and stretched, “we should get home soon. It’s getting late.”

“Yeah.” Harold sighed. “Aw, it was so nice to see you guys again!”

“Yeah!” Bo agreed, picking Harold up and hugging him. They all said goodbye before George, Harold, Melvin, Billy, and Lisa went home with all their baby gifts.

* * *

Melvin laid back on the bed (now the biggest size they could find) and sighed, stretching his arms above his head. All the baby stuff was in the other bedroom, for him to go through tomorrow while the others were working. He winced a bit, sitting up and holding a hand to his abdomen.

“...what’s wrong?” George frowned. “Are you ok?”

“Y-yeah, I’m fine.” Melvin shifted a little until the pain went away, and he sighed. “It’s just Braxton Hicks, it’s fine.”

“What’s that?” Harold asked.

“They’re basically, um- they’re like “practice contractions”,” Melvin explained. “They’re how the body gets ready to give birth. But I’m not in labor.”

“A-are you sure?” George looked worried. “Maybe we should call or something-”

“ _ Yes, _ I’m sure.” Melvin rolled his eyes. “Braxton Hicks are a completely normal aspect of pregnancy. I know how to tell the difference, and this isn’t the real thing. Please, George, I’m tired. I just want to get some sleep.”

“Alright.” George sighed and lightly kissed him. “I trust you.”

“Thank you.”

“Oh hey, you never told us how big she is this week,” Lisa said, sitting down. Melvin blinked. 

“Huh, I guess I didn’t.” He grabbed his phone to look it up. “...head of lettuce. That’s how big she is.”

“Aww, our little girl is getting so big!” Harold cooed, setting a hand against Melvin’s belly. He gasped. “She kicked! She kicked my hand, I’m her favorite!”

He stuck his tongue out at the others. Melvin rolled his eyes, shoving Harold’s hand away.

“She was kicking you to get you away,” he joked. “Maybe you’re her  _ least  _ favorite.”

“Aw, I’m sure that’s not true.” Lisa reached over to feel. “See? She kicked me too. We can’t both be her least favorite.”

“Alright, everyone stop touching my stomach! I want to sleep!” Melvin moved to lay at the head of the bed. “Goodnight!”


	13. Squash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings:  
Sexual reference

Harold hummed along to the music playing as he painted, focusing on the images forming in front of him. He took a step back, holding the paintbrush and looking at the full picture. He checked the reference image on his phone and nodded, cleaning off his brush.

“_Mm mm mm-mm_ _I heard her say…_” Harold sang along under his breath, dipping a bigger paintbrush in the orange and starting to paint. “_Billy, don’t be a hero. Don’t be a fool with your lii-iiiife._”

“Hey Harold, lunch is almost-  _ woah. _ ”

Melvin stood in the doorway to the baby room, jaw dropped in amazement. Cartoons covered the walls, mainly from George and Harold’s comics, but on the wall across from the door was a large (half-colored) painting of the Acronym team.

“Oh! Hey, Melvin!” Harold quickly moved to pause the music. His clothes and skin were covered in splotches of paint. “What’s up?”

“...you did all this?” Melvin asked, pointing.

“Mm-hm! This is what I’ve been working on for the last couple weeks.” Harold smiled and bounced on his feet a bit. “You like it?”

“Like- Harold, this is amazing!” Melvin walked around a bit, looking at everything. “I knew you were good at drawing, but painting murals is a whole new level…”

“Thank you! It’s pretty easy once you sketch the outline.”

“ _ I  _ couldn’t do anything like this.”

“Aw, sure you could! Here, uh…” He looked around. “The door! I didn’t have anything planned for it. Try it out!”

“Oh- n-no, I couldn’t-” Melvin frowned as Harold shoved a paintbrush into his hand. “It won’t be as good as yours-”

“Sure it will.” Harold shrugged. “Give it a shot, Mel!”

“O-Ok, um…” Melvin thought for a minute before he started to paint an outline. It was shaky, but at the end, he was rather proud of it.

Harold tilted his head. “What is it?”

“I-it’s an atom…”

“Oh! Yeah, ok! That’s really good, Melvin!” Harold grinned. “Ooh, you could color it in with the bi colors since there’s three of those little oval thingies? Aaaand the little balls on the inside can be rainbow! Gay science!”

“Y-yeah!” Melvin lit up, grinning. “I like that! I wanna do that, can we-?”

“Guys! Come on, your food’s gonna get cold!”

Melvin jumped at Lisa’s voice from the other room. “Oh, right, uh- lunch is ready.”

“Oh good, I’m starving.” Harold tucked his phone in his pocket. “Come on, you can finish after we eat-”

“Change into clean clothes and go wash yourself off first.”

* * *

Melvin sat in the middle of the baby room, staring at the door. It was dark, but he didn’t bother to turn the light on. Sometimes he liked sitting in the dark.

He looked around the room. It was already filled with furniture. The crib, dressers, a toy box, and toys in various spots around him. The furniture was pushed away from the back wall, which Harold hadn’t finished painting yet, but other than that, the room was ready.

...why didn’t Melvin feel like he was, though?

They  _ had  _ everything. An apartment, everyone was there, they had clothes and toys and food and furniture. Melvin was doing everything his doctor said he should to prepare for birth- even Melvin himself was ready for this to happen. Sure, at the start of this, he didn’t feel ready. He kept trying to ignore his feelings about the whole thing. But he had accepted awhile ago that  _ it _ wasn’t a  _ thing. She  _ was a  _ baby,  _ he was going to be a  _ dad _ .

He was ok with that part. But why didn’t he feel ready? What didn’t they have?

The door creaked open, and George stepped through, rubbing his eyes. “Melvin?”

It clicked.

“Dude, what are you doing up? I-I thought we were done with this whole- all these “existential crises at 2 in the morning” things. Are you ok?”

“Gallium.”

“...what?” George squinted. He moved to look at the spot Melvin was staring at, and he saw the atom he had painted. “Woah, hey, that’s pretty good. Did you do this?”

“Gallium Yttrium,” Melvin said, ignoring the question.

“Melvin I have no idea what you’re saying.”

“We still don’t have a name for her.” Melvin frowned, looking a little upset. Why didn’t George get it? “She’s a squash and we don’t have a name for her.”

“H- no, I-I guess we don’t. Can’t we talk about it in the morning though-?”

“I know what I want to name her.” Melvin looked down at his stomach, setting one hand on it.

“...oh. Ok. Um-” George moved to sit down in front of Melvin. “What- what do you wanna name her?”

“Gallium Yttrium.”

“...the fuck is that.”

“ _ They  _ are elements on the periodic table. Gallium for her first name, Yttrium for her middle name.”

George blinked, looking surprised. “Melvin, we’re not naming our kid after elements.”

“George I haven’t been 100% certain about anything for the past eight months except for this.” Melvin set his face. “Gallium Yttrium, when shortened to their symbols, together, is Ga Y.” He pointed at the atom on the door. “Gay science.”

George tried to think of what to say, but nothing came out. “...Gallium Yttrium.” He paused, then sighed and buried his face in his hands. “It’s a fuckin’ weird-ass name, Melvin. You know that, right?” Melvin didn’t answer. George inhaled and looked up, throwing his hands up. “Alright! Fine. Gallium Yttrium.  _ Only  _ because it spells “gay.””

Melvin grinned and leaned forward to hug George. “Thank you.”

He sat back and George sighed, rolling his eyes. He gently rubbed Melvin’s stomach. “Hey… Gallium. I’m sorry your papa is such a nerd.”

“Hey.” Melvin glared, then set his own hand on his belly bump. “We could use “Gally” as a nickname.”

“That… at least sounds like a name.” George nodded, then murmured softly. “Hey, Gally. You finally have a name, whatcha think?” 

Melvin felt a kick against his stomach. George grinned.

“I think she’s happily we finally picked something.”

“I think she’s upset you woke her up.” Melvin snorted and rolled his eyes. “Alright, help me up. I wanna go to bed.”

George stood up and offered a hand to him, pulling him to his feet. George gently held his face to kiss him slowly, and Melvin wrapped his arms around George’s neck.

“Before we go back to bed, uh-” George leaned down to whisper in Melvin’s ear.

“...the others are sleeping.”

“Not in here.”

Melvin glanced up thoughtfully as George gently kissed down his neck. He moaned and bit his lip when George nibbled at the base of his neck.

“Alright.”


	14. Rhubarb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings:  
Labor  
Dysphoria

It was the start of a brand new school year, and Melvin’s… could have been going better.

His “practice contractions” seemed to  _ love  _ showing up just as he got to his last couple classes. And they hadn’t been getting any easier to deal with. In fact, they just kept getting more and more of a hassle to put up with.

Especially this  _ round _ , shit.

“Melvin, are you sure you’re alright?”

“I’m fine,” he whispered, shifting in his chair again. He took another drink from his water bottle, sighing. “It’s just these stupid Braxton Hicks things.”

“Aren’t those supposed to go away?” Erica asked.

“ _ Yeah _ , I’m trying to make them.” He breathed out, shifting again and setting his head in his arms on the table. “They’re just getting worse, they’re not supposed to do that.”

Erica’s eyes widened. “Melvin, I think those are  _ real. _ ”

Melvin frowned, thinking. They had been pretty regular, and they were getting stronger instead of going away like they usually did. And what was another difference he saw- being all over instead of just in the front?

His eyes widened.

“Shit,” he whispered. “Erica, I think they’re real.”

“Yeah, I just-”

“Excuse me, Prof. Essor?” Melvin raised his hand. The professor glanced over at him.

“Yes?”

“Can we be excused?” Melvin asked, starting to stand up.

Prof. Essor narrowed his eyes and folded his arms. “And what, Mr. Sneedly, is so important that you have to leave in the middle of my lesson?”

Melvin stared directly back at the professor.

“...I’m in  _ labor. _ ”

“...oh.” Essor looked uncomfortable. “Um- yes, you can- you may be excused.”

Melvin and Erica quickly packed their things up and Erica led Melvin out to her car, calling George.

* * *

“Thank you for visiting Sweet Tooth, we hope to see you again!"

George sighed, sitting back down across the counter of the cupcake bar. The lunch hour was finally over, which meant the bakery was returning to normal. It wasn’t very busy most of the time, which is when George preferred it.

He set his head down in his arms for only a minute before someone tapped him on the shoulder.

“Your phone’s been going off,” the owner of the bakery held it up. “Seems important.”

“Oh. Thanks, Mrs. Pines.” He took his phone and pressed the answer button.

“No problem, sweetie.”

“Hey Erica, everything ok?”

_ “Melvin’s in labor.” _

“WHAT?!” George shot up out of his seat. “Right now?!”

_ “YES RIGHT NOW!” Melvin shouted from the other end. “Tell George I’m gonna kill him!” _

“I heard. Are you guys headed to the hospital?”

_ “Yeah, we just left. Should be there in less than an hour.” _

“Ok, I’ll be there.”

_ “Aren’t you at work-?” _

“I’ll be there!” George hung up and turned to his boss. “Mrs. Pines, can I leave early? My boyfriend just went into labor-”

“Of course, go!” She lightly shooed him off, handing a cupcake to her youngest kid, who was running around. George hurried off as she called after him, “And I told you you can call me Jenny!”

* * *

Melvin had just gotten into a delivery room and laid down when George arrived, looking panicked.

“Melvin!” He hurried over to the bed. “Hey, you good? Everything alright?”

“I’m  _ fine.  _ It’s a baby, not the flu, you broken peanut shell.” Melvin rolled his eyes and sat up a bit. “We just got here. And quiet down.”

“Sorry,” George mumbled, pulling a chair over to sit down next to Melvin. “You guys tell the others?”

“I’m texting them right now.” Erica held up her phone from the other side of the room. George nodded and turned back to Melvin, holding his hand.

“This is it. It’s happening, Mel. We’re gonna be dads.”

“Yeah, I know.” Melvin sighed. The nurse stepped into the room, looking at her clipboard. George sat up nervously, looking at her.

“Hi. Um- is it- when does it-?”

“You can relax.” The nurse smiled. “Most first-time mothers are usually in labor for six to ten hours; we have plenty of time.”

George’s jaw dropped and Melvin groaned, laying back and rubbing at his face. He pointed at the nurse without looking up. “Don’t call me a first-time mother.”

“Ah, right. Sorry, sir. Still, there’ll be a couple hours until you’re actually ready to give birth.”

“Awww,” George whined. Melvin rolled his eyes.

“I’m sorry about him, he’s impatient.”

The nurse chuckled. “I have to check to see how dilated you are, is that alright?”

Melvin frowned a little. “Uh-” He looked at George, squeezing his hand. “Y-yeah, I guess.”

While the nurse did that, George leaned closer to Melvin. “You ok?”

“Yeah, I just…” Melvin laid his head sideways on the pillow, looking anxious. “I don’t like…” he swallowed, his voice becoming quiet, “thinking about my body, a lot. And I get it, she’s the nurse, and everyone here knows I’m pregnant, it just…”

“Hey,” George murmured, running a thumb along the back of Melvin’s hand. “That’s alright. You’re allowed to feel that way.”

“The others are on their way,” Erica said. Melvin nodded, sighing and running a hand over his stomach.

“Alright Mr. Sneedly, you’re about three centimeters dilated, right on track,” the nurse said. “Try to relax and walk around a bit while you wait.” Melvin nodded. The nurse looked at George. “Are you the other father?”

“Mm-hm.” George nodded.

“Aright. You’ll be allowed to be in here for the delivery, if you’d like?”

“Uh- yes please.”

“Alright. If you need anything, just press that little button.” The nurse left, leaving George, Melvin, and Erica alone in the room.

“Erica, you can, uh- you leave if you want,” Melvin said. “Go back to class.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Just- bring up my bag? My inhaler’s in there. Might need it.”

Erica nodded and stepped out. George gently rubbed Melvin’s hand, and Melvin leaned his head back, closing his eyes. He let out a shaky breath, sniffing and setting his glasses next to him on the bed as his eyes watered.

“You ok?”

“Y-yeah, I just- it’s happening. It’s almost over. And  _ fuck,  _ am I ready for it to be over.” He let out a shaky laugh. “God, I can’t wait to be able to wear my binder again. And sit down without it feeling like I’m pissing myself. And for everyone to stop staring at me like they’re trying to figure out what the fuck I am.”

George laughed, kissing the back of Melvin’s hand. “Almost there, sweet prince.”


	15. Birth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings:  
Labor and birth  
Needles

Melvin winced, pressing a hand to his abdomen. George sat up a bit, watching him nervously.

“Another contraction?” Billy asked.

“Mm-hm.” Melvin nodded, squeezing his eyes shut. He bit down hard on the chewy in his mouth, and after a few seconds, sighed and relaxed again. “What’s the time?”

“7:36,” Harold said.

“Still six minutes,” Melvin murmured to himself. “And classes are done.” He sat up a bit. “George, can you get my homework from all my classes?”

“...you want homework while you’re in labor?”

“Is there a baby actively coming out of my vagina?” Melvin glared a bit.

“...no?”

“Then I can do homework.”

George sighed. “Alright, alright.” He stood up and gave Harold and Lisa each a kiss. “I’ll be back.”

“Byeee I love you,” Harold said.

“I love you too.” George ruffled Harold’s hair before leaving.

“You should try to rest,” Lisa said, moving to take George’s seat next to Melvin. “You’re gonna need the energy.”

“Ugh, if I even  _ can  _ sleep.”

“Even a little can help.” Lisa patted Melvin’s arm gently, and he sighed before closing his eyes.

* * *

“Looks like it’s almost time to start pushing.”

“What?!” Melvin sat up quickly, looking panicked. “B-but the contractions weren’t that far apart an hour ago-”

“You are progressing rather quickly, but it’s different for everyone,” the nurse said. “You should start prepping. We’ll be back to check in a couple minutes.”

“G-George isn’t back yet-”

“Hey, calm down, he will be,” Lisa said. “Harold, text George and tell him it’s almost time.”

“What if he doesn’t get back in time?” Melvin started to panic. “H-He’s gonna miss it-”

“Melvin, just breathe-”

“I-I can’t, I-” He coughed and wheezed as he tried to breathe in. Lisa grabbed his inhaler and handed it to him. Melvin’s breathing became heavier as he panicked.

* * *

“I hope everything goes smoothly!”

“Heh, yeah, you and me both.” George rubbed the back of his head nervously as the professor gathered up the homework.

“Melvin must be my top student, it only makes sense he’d want to work through labor.” She chuckled.

“Pfft, yeah, that’s Melvin.” George’s phone buzzed and he pulled it out to look at it. His eyes widened. “Shit!”

He bolted towards the door, tucking the homework he had already grabbed under his arm. The professor watched after him. “You forgot the-!”

George ignored her, rushing to his car and stuffing his phone in his pocket. He tossed the papers onto the passenger seat and hurried to start the car. “Come on, come on!”

* * *

Melvin was still breathing heavily into a paper bag Harold had managed to find in the cafeteria, but even between that and his inhaler, he wasn’t able to bring his breathing down to normal.

“He’s gonna miss it, he’s- he was supposed to be here-”

“Melvin, you have to calm down,” Billy said. “Come on, breathe with me-”

It only barely helped get him to the point of being able to hold a conversation.

“Sweetie, do you want an epidural for your birth?” The nurse asked.

“U-um- that’s the needle one, isn’t it?” 

“Yes, it’s through a needle, near the small of your back.”

Melvin moaned anxiously, biting his lip. He might have had the  _ smallest  _ fear of needles- it’s why he hadn’t been able to work up the courage to go on T yet. “Can you do it quickly, please?”

“Of course.”

Harold checked his phone as the nurse prepared the epidural. “George is almost here. Ten minutes.”

Melvin glanced at the needle and squeezed his eyes shut. “Someone hold me please? I-I can’t-”

“Ok, hey, I gotcha.” Harold moved over to let Melvin hold onto him. Melvin buried his face in his shoulderblade and clutched the fabric of his shirt. “Ssh, it’s ok-”

“I don’t like needles, I-I really don’t, Harold.”

“I know, I know. It’ll be alright, it’s real quick-” Melvin whimpered as the epidural went in. “There! See? All done.”

Melvin laid back, chewing his chewy harder. “Y-you said George is almost here?”

“Yeah, ten minutes. He’ll make it, ok?”

Melvin nodded. “Ok… ok…”

About eight minutes later, George burst into the room, panting. “I’m here! Did I miss it-?”

“George!” Melvin exclaimed. He rushed over to the bed and let Melvin pull him down, sighing in relief. “I thought you weren’t gonna make it! Don’t do that to me!” He winced hard and held his side. “Three minutes. Ow, ah, shit-”

“Three minutes? What’s- what’s- what’s that mean?”

“Three minutes between contractions. It’s almost time, you literally made it just in time.”

“O-oh. Oh, phew-”

“It’s going to get loud. Can you handle that?”

George nodded, pulling out a pair of earplugs. “I’m staying with you for the whole thing.”

“Ten centimeters! It’s time to start pushing!”

* * *

“Come on, one more push! And… she’s out! It’s a girl!"

Melvin’s head was swimming. He fell back on the bed, gasping. He could barely hear anything anyone was saying. He groaned, pressing a hand to his forehead. It came back soaked with sweat. Shit. That happened.

...it happened. It’s done. He’s done.

Slowly his senses began to return. He was still panting, but he could hear George and the doctors talking, and he managed to make out “Yeah, like the elements.” He rubbed at his ears and looked around a bit, but didn’t try to sit up yet.

“Hey,” George whispered, squeezing his hand. “Dude, that was awesome. You were amazing.”

“Yeah…” Melvin mumbled. “Wh-where is she…?”

“They’re cleaning her up. They’ll bring her back out in a couple minutes. How you feeling?”

“Tired…”

“Y-yeah-” George laughed. “Yeah, I-I bet.”

Melvin closed his eyes, breathing more evenly.

_ “Hey, is it ok if the others come in now? Th-they’re- they’re the parents too-” _

_ “Yeah, it’s alright now. I’ll let them in.” _

Melvin opened his eyes as the others crowded around the bed. He smiled tiredly and pushed himself up a bit. “H-hey, guys…”

“Hey, Melvin,” Harold replied quietly. “You did it!”

“Yeah.” Melvin yawned, rubbing his eyes. “Yeah, I did. And I’m blaming George.”

The other three laughed as George exclaimed “What!” Melvin snorted, patting his arm.

“It’s your fault. All of this. I’m blaming you.”

“Aw, that’s not fair-”

“Alright, here she is.”

Melvin snapped up, looking for the nurse. She carefully approached the bed, transferring the small bundle of blankets into Melvin’s arms. “All cleaned up and dressed.”

Melvin’s mouth fell into a small o, looking at her. She was so small. Dark skin, and a smattering of freckles across her face. Gallium. Gally.

“Hey princess…” George whispered, reaching over to lightly touch the blankets. “Hi… wow, you’re so beautiful.”

“I love her so much…” Harold had to stop himself from squealing.

“...I’m never doing that again,” Melvin said. “Never.”

Billy chuckled. “That’s fair.”

George ignored them, focused entirely on the baby in his boyfriend’s arms.

“Welcome to the family, little Gally…”


	16. Epilogue

“Dustin, get your backpack on! Harley, get your hand _ out _of your sister’s cereal! Cordelia, why aren’t you wearing your uniform?”

“It’s dirty!”

“What do you mean it’s-!” Melvin growled and massaged his forehead. “Go get the spare one out of the laundry.”

Cordelia nodded and raced off, nearly knocking into Billy as she passed. 

“No running!” He called after her. “Here, let me take Connie.”

“Thanks.” Melvin handed over the squirming four-year-old. Billy carried him over and sat him in his booster seat, followed by a plate of toasted frozen waffles on the table in front of him.

“Da-ad.” Kei tugged on Billy’s shirt. “I can’t find my-”

“Noise-cancelling headphones.” Billy set them over her ears. She grinned, bouncing off into the house.

"Alright, everyone has breakfast!" George announced from the kitchen.

"Hey that's mine, give it back!"

"It was in my spot!"

Melvin growled and reached his robot arm over to pick the child up buy the back of his shirt. "Delphinus, give it back."

Delphinus pouted and dropped the stuffed poodle into Hailey's open arms. She stuck her tongue out and he returned the gesture.

"Papa, my uniform isn't in the laundry-!"

"I washed it last night, go get dressed." Lisa set the Elitinati uniform in Cordelia's arms and patted her towards the bathroom.

"Elementary bus is here!" Harold called. "Everyone out!" He patted everyone's heads and called role as they moved out the door. "Mike Lucas Dustin Will Nik Kei Delphinus Hailey Harley-" Harold counted up the names in his head. "Where's Owen!"

"I was in the bathroom!" Owen called, hurrying towards the door.

"Alright, that's all of 'em!" Harold sighed, sitting down at the table. The busy part of the morning was officially over.

"Can someone drive Cordelia today?" Melvin asked. "I'm working from home."

"Yeah, I got her." George grabbed his keys. "Cordelia, let's go!"

"Coming!" The girl came running from the other room. She quickly pulled on her backpack and hurried out the door in front of George.

Melvin sighed, sitting back in his seat at the table. He rolled his head over to look at Connie, who was tearing his waffle into smaller pieces before eating.

Meena and Kat came down the stairs next, having just missed the early morning rush. Gally wouldn't be getting up for another hour, since the high school bus didn't arrive until an hour after the middle school one.

"Morning papa." Kat kissed his cheek before getting breakfast. Billy and Lisa called that they were leaving for work. The girls sat down to eat, pushing the dirty dishes on the table aside. Harold stood up to start clearing all the plates.

Melvin glanced over at Connie again, who was just finishing his waffle. "...hey buddy, do you want to join me in the lab today?"

Connie gasped. "Really!"

"Yeah!" Melvin smiled and lifted him out of the booster seat. "I could use some company."

As he left to the lab, he passed by that year's family photo on the wall. They never managed to get a good one, with all fifteen of the kids, but they were special. He smiled as he passed it.

This _ definitely _ wasn't the plan.


End file.
